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E39 (1997 - 2003) The BMW 5-Series (E39 chassis) was introduced in the United States as a 1997 model year car and lasted until the 2004 when the E60 chassis was released. The United States saw several variations including the 525i, 528i, 530i and 540i. -- View the E39 Wiki

Wow, a lot of Wiper tech data on this listing. I replace mine yesterday, as I do every year or my wife will complain of wiper noise. In California we have so much heat the wipers dry out over the summer and squeak in the winter.

I will share that I keep it simple. I buy replacement inserts made by ANCO. The Anco catalog says they don't offer any that work but they are wrong if you are willing to make one small change.

I buy the Wiper Refill ANCO W-28R, this comes with two inserts. The shape is perfect to fit in the OEM wiper arm. The only modification is to cut to length, you are buying 28 inch inserts so the passenger side needs to be cut down to length as does the drivers side. 26 inch would work but they don't offer a 26 inch blade, only 28 inch. I cut it with my dremel tool and then cleaned up the ends with the same dremel to make the ends match the stock look.

The first time you install these you have to open up the one clip where the OEM inserts are locked in. This one clip is slightly tighter than the others on the wiper arm to lock the clip in place. I just slid a medium size flat blade screwdriver in and massaged it a little wider so it matched the other 6 or so supports in size. Just took a minute for the drivers side and again on the passenger side. A simple press on cap locks the insert into the wiper arm.
I like the ANCO W-28R because they are cheap, fast to change and available everywhere for the most part. Some of the big chains no longer carry inserts. Once you use these the first time the second time install is 2 minutes max for both sides.
Just thought I would share, it has worked on my 2002 E39 530i for several years and we are hitting the rainy season now.

My OEM Wiper blade support on the passenger side broke last year, the plastic had aged in the clip that holds the wiper to the arm on so I bought a new OEM wiper blade to fix that last year. Given that history I would consider buying new OEM wipers with the arm every 6 years or so to avoid this.
When mine broke it was being used and did scratch the glass a little before they were shut off.